Continuing the story where the 3rd left off seems pointless when you think about. The writers will have to come up with a whole new plot device to bring back all the dead transformers which for the most part has a huge potential for being lame. How many times are we going to resurrect these guys?

A prequel will take us to the war on cybertron (something everyone's been wanting to see). It will also give us back our favorite transformers (jazz, ironhide, soundwave, starscream, megatron, etc).

Not only will a prequel bring our beloved transformers back from the dead, but it will allow for cybertronian modes which equals new toys (to make hasbro happy).

A prequel will also allow for a way to properly tie in the events of all three TF movies we already received - filling in some plot holes along the way.

I think this is really the most logical direction for the franchise to go. Similar to the effect of starwars where lucas waited for advancements in technology before he filmed the first three movies, now that TF's has proven they make bank, the studio can dedicate more money to the franchise so we can have more cgi elements (like cybertron scenes).

When making an all CGI movie, you have to also considere this: It wont be as hard to make the CGI. Why? At first, the Level of CGI can be a little less good, nobody will notice because they dont have a reference like real life in the picture. Also, it is much easier because you dont have to make the Transformers fit into the real world. Instead, all the lightning and so on can be made with a computer.

I would love something set on Earth BEFORE Optimus and his pals arrived.

They could make a movie about Archibald Witwicky and the dangers of his travel along the Artic Circle [of course, TRANSFORMERS dangers], with the the Seekers [A.K.A Jetfire and his pals] serving as main heroes and villains, some of them wanting to wake Megatron and bring forth the doom of mankind, some others [like Jetfire] wanting to stop the others.

I would love something set on Earth BEFORE Optimus and his pals arrived.

They could make a movie about Archibald Witwicky and the dangers of his travel along the Artic Circle [of course, TRANSFORMERS dangers], with the the Seekers [A.K.A Jetfire and his pals] serving as main heroes and villains, some of them wanting to wake Megatron and bring forth the doom of mankind, some others [like Jetfire] wanting to stop the others.

Sorry, I will never understand why anybody thinks that a prequel is the only/a good way to go. First off, do we really want a toyline that's just cybertronian modes? Apart from Shockwave, the cybertron mode movie toys are pretty much agreed to be wastes of plastic. Second, the reason we got so little Transformer screentime is the budget. Are you guys asking for a 40 minute film made of the same technical caliber/style? Thirdly, the aesthetic/monochromatic scheme of cybertronian modes is one of the most common criticisms of the films, and now people, haters included, are asking for a full length feature based on that? And that's not even touching on the implications of the storyline, I mean, it would primarily serve as an opportunity to fill in plot holes and little else (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating this bit, but there's still some merit to this assertion)

Apart from the fact that a largely (or wholly) CGI prequel set on Cybertron would be prohibitively expensive - a CGI film is going to come across to the movie-going public as a cartoon, and North American audiences do not generally accept 'cartoons' geared for adult audiences. Going this route would finally and definitively crash the franchise - financially.

A Cybertron-centric, largely digitial prequel would be an incredibly difficult sell to the masses and would almost certiainly never find a wide (non-Transformer) audience. It is largely unnecessary anyway - casual viewers rarely need to be told the backstory to a property in anything more than broad strokes - if the backstory was really so good, it would have been the 'front story,' as it were.

The SW prequels suffer from this as well. There is a weighty aura over those films of putting in time and waiting for the 'good' story to finally start.

Agreed. There are plenty of options open for sequels based off of previous stories alone. Don't forget about heading off into an original concept *gasp* or even an homage to the old animated movie.
The one thing I don't get is when people say this:

The writers will have to come up with a whole new plot device to bring back all the dead transformers which for the most part has a huge potential for being lame. How many times are we going to resurrect these guys?

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Does a sequel have to resurrect the same characters? I don't think so. There are literally hundreds of established Transformers characters that we have not seen in the movies. Why not bring in some of them? We have all of the G1 seekers save Starscream, the Predacons (G1 and Beast Wars), most of the Combaticons and Stunticons, Insecticons, Scourge, Cyclonus, Galvetron (who does not have to be Megatron in any way), and more. Surely the writers can find a way to work some of these guys in rather than resurrecting the old crew.
Hell, new Autobots can be pulled in. Everybody has been clamoring for the Dinobots since the first movie (my vote is make their robot modes be dinosaurs). Ultra Magnus, Rodimus, Kup, and Blur get a lot of requests. At least 2/3 of the original G1 cast went unused. Bring 'em in. Kill off and replace guys. Bay didn't kill the twins off officially either. I say bring them back as older bots showing more maturity and skill.
The way I see it, the first trilogy was primarily about Megatron, and to a lesser extent Optimus. The first movie was about finding and reactivating Megatron. The second movie was about Megatron making big bold moves for power - he freaking killed Optimus! The third movie was about Megatron's ultimate plan coming to fruition and his realization that it was utterly flawed; it was his redemption piece.
The next movie/trilogy should be about something and somebody else. Given the vast wealth of ideas and characters, it should not be that complicated.

Sorry, I will never understand why anybody thinks that a prequel is the only/a good way to go.

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I think my OP described why pretty nicely.

First off, do we really want a toyline that's just cybertronian modes? Apart from Shockwave, the cybertron mode movie toys are pretty much agreed to be wastes of plastic.

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that's your opinion. I personally think the cybertronian modes are the best ones. do we really need a fourth semi truck optimus prime, though?

Second, the reason we got so little Transformer screentime is the budget. Are you guys asking for a 40 minute film made of the same technical caliber/style?

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No, I'd like a 2 hour or more film with the same level of cgi we have received. When a movie makes a billion dollars in box office alone (not counting toys, dvds, blue rays, video games, etc) you can afford to spend a couple extra hundred million on cgi - not to mention that based on what someone else stated in this thread it might actually be cheaper to do

Thirdly, the aesthetic/monochromatic scheme of cybertronian modes is one of the most common criticisms of the films, and now people, haters included, are asking for a full length feature based on that?

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who's to say that they have to be this way in a movie? all of the prequel comics show the tranformers in perfect color

And that's not even touching on the implications of the storyline, I mean, it would primarily serve as an opportunity to fill in plot holes and little else (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating this bit, but there's still some merit to this
assertion)

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filing in plot holes is just gravy. the prequels give the writers an excuse to use characters that have been killed as well as an opportunity to expand the mythology of the movie verse.

Apart from the fact that a largely (or wholly) CGI prequel set on Cybertron would be prohibitively expensive - a CGI film is going to come across to the movie-going public as a cartoon, and North American audiences do not generally accept 'cartoons' geared for adult audiences. Going this route would finally and definitively crash the franchise - financially.

A Cybertron-centric, largely digitial prequel would be an incredibly difficult sell to the masses and would almost certiainly never find a wide (non-Transformer) audience. It is largely unnecessary anyway - casual viewers rarely need to be told the backstory to a property in anything more than broad strokes - if the backstory was really so good, it would have been the 'front story,' as it were.

The SW prequels suffer from this as well. There is a weighty aura over those films of putting in time and waiting for the 'good' story to finally start.